When The Lights Go Out
by iluvarcticmonkeys
Summary: Tensions Rise. Passions take flight. If you got that because you're a Mackenzie Falls fan, props to you. a collaborative Channy story
1. Chapter 1

**When The Lights Go Out**

**A/N: **What it doooo?! It's been too long my friends. And no, this is not a Dasey fanfic, but this is something better.  
This is a Channy fanfic that I'm writing with my good friend, Ari!  
We've been sending this story back and forth and writing our own parts, so I hope you guys like how it's coming together!  
Everything Sonny with a Chance related is our obsession right now and I freaking love it.

Bonus points to any of the Mack Falls fans that can catch the references in each chapter title ;)

Note from Ari: Mackon lovers unite! (LMAO)

**Chapter 1: This Cellphone is MINE!**

"Would you look at Chad? Even his walk is as arrogant as he is." Sonny ranted, glaring at Chad Dylan Cooper as he strutted through the cafeteria like the rooster of the chicken coop. "And just look at the way all these people eat up the garbage he feeds them! Can't they tell how fake he is? I mean-"

"Sonny! Are you coming or are you just gonna sit there and whine about your inability to be cool all day?" Tawni Hart was standing at the exit to the cafeteria, impatiently tapping her foot. Sonny was so annoyed, she hadn't even realized her lunch companion was up and leaving. She forced her gaze away, stood up, marched past Chad without a second glance, and followed Tawni back to the prop room.

"...Not to mention, his need to be right all the time. He doesn't even know what right _is_! Like the other day, we were arguing about..." Sonny couldn't help herself from fuming about Chad the whole walk through the studio. When they finally reached the prop room, Tawni couldn't take anymore.

"Sonny," Tawni began, stopping short and whipping around to face Sonny, who almost walked right into her, "I'm sure what you're saying has a deep and meaningful point to you, but all I'm hearing is Chad blah blah blahhh..." She then smiled and turned to walk over towards the table where she had left her mirror and her cocoa moco cocoa lipstick.

Sonny rolled her eyes and started to pace back and forth, still full of annoyance. "Oh look at me, I'm Chad Dylan Cooper, big CDC man on campus! I like to walk around like I own everyone and everything here!" She began to heavily exaggerate her movement into something resembling Chad's and continued pacing. "I'm the greatest actor of our generation even though I don't know what emotions are! I'm just so cool!" Sonny was really getting into it now, laughing at her dead-on impersonation until she turned around to find someone blocking her path.

"You know, if you're going to portray _me, _you should at least make it believable." Chad informed Sonny, seemingly coming from out of nowhere. "I lead with my left foot, not my right." He added helpfully.

Sonny crossed her arms and fearlessly glared into that smirking face of his. "What do you want, _Chad_?" she asked, putting a particular hint of disgust into the stress of his name.

"Just wanted to stop by and see my favorite ladies of So Random!" Chad grinned, wrapping an arm around Sonny. Tawni just looked over and grimaced. "Oh and I left my comb in here somewhere." Chad dropped his arm and began searching the room for the object.

"Well could you just grab it and leave? You can't keep barging onto the set of So Random like you own the studios, Chad! Go boss around your own precious set of Mackenzie Falls." Sonny scolded Chad, walking behind him in his pointless search.

"You know I would love to be anywhere but this junk infested dump, but someone's constant chatter makes it a _little _distracting to find what I came here for." Chad turned to Sonny to explain slowly.

"So if I find your stupid comb, you'll get out? Fine." Sonny began searching, making her way toward the stairs. "It's not like you don't own 300 different combs. You just love an excuse to come over here and tick us off."

"Ha. This is true. But that comb has sentimental value, ok? It was in my back pocket when I won my first Tween Choice Award. You know, the award that your show will never win?" Chad raised an eyebrow at Tawni.

Tawni smiled back sarcastically and replied, "We're waiting to win for our show based on talent, not on cheap, brassy highlights."

Chad glowered and touched his hair self-consciously. He was about to fire back a scathing retort when a dinging sound went off to his left. Looking over, he saw Sonny's phone lying on the back of the couch. Curious, he walked over to pick it up, and after taking a quick look around to see he wouldn't be caught, he pocketed the phone and went back to where he was casually standing.

"Here!" Sonny yelled from the top floor, throwing the comb at Chad. He ducked from the flying object, and then stomped off to pick it up off the ground. Sonny ran back down the stairs to answer the text message she had heard go off.

"You know, my face is very lucky that you're such a terrible pitcher, Sonny." Chad warned before adding, "Well, I'm a man of my word. See you ladies later." Chad turned swiftly and headed for the door.

"Where's my phone?" Sonny looked puzzled as she began to turn over the couch cushions in search of it. "...Chad?" she called after him warningly and he stopped in his tracks. Taking a breath, he turned around with that same smug look on his face.

"Sonny, Sonny, Sonny... Do you really think I would take _your_ phone? I already have two. And they have _real _people in their contacts list." He chuckled at her and walked out the door, not daring to look back.

"Yeah, real people as in the cast of MacKenzie Falls! I have friends numbers listed in my phone!" she called after him. Turning to Tawni, she muttered, "Phone, phone. Where is my phone?"

"Chad has it," Tawni said nonchalantly, proceeding with primping in front of the mirror. Gliding a hand through her hair, she smiled in satisfaction.

Sonny whirled around and looked at her horrified. "What? Why didn't you stop him!?"

Tawni swiveled around to face Sonny. "Because I wanted to see your face when you were all like, 'What!?'" she mocked Sonny, then giggled. Her laughter faded when she saw Sonny's annoyed expression. "Oh come on, we work in a comedy show. It's funny!"

"You don't understand, Tawni. There is personal, important stuff on my phone. Chad could make me look bad in front of the media!"

Her blonde cast mate blinked, uncaring.

"He can make everyone on So Random look bad in front of the media!" Sonny said impatiently.

Tawni's eyes widened as she thought of her fame and fortune destroyed because of one word from Chad Dylan Cooper to the paparazzi. "Go after him!"

Sonny kicked off with her feet, almost tripping on a prop, continuing her search of Chad throughout the studio. She walked onto the set of Mackenzie Falls, ignoring the stares of the other cast mates and journeyed through a corridor that led to a door. Looking up, she read Chad's full name on the door and knew she was on uncharted territory.

Bursting through, she shielded her eyes from anything indecent. It was his dressing room. Then she felt a hand on her arm and she jumped. Opening her eyes, she looked at an amused Chad.

"Sonny," he laughed then froze. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here," she said, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes. "I'm here to get my phone back."

"Why, Sonny, I have no clue what you're talking about," he said innocently, but humor gleamed in his eyes.

"Oh really, Chad, really?" she mocked him. "Because I have a witness." He cocked a brow at her quizzically. "Yeah, that's right, Tawni! She told me she saw you take my phone. Now where is it?" she said, a wild look in her eye, going all around his room, looking through his things.

"Hey don't touch that," he said touchily, when her finger landed on an extra suit of his lying across a couch.

"I'm gonna get the whole So Random cast to TP this room with me if you don't give me my phone!" she told him.

He sighed, exasperated. "I don't have your phone. Now leave before I call security on you," he said, cockiness lacing through his tone.

But what he didn't expect next was Sonny pouncing on him. He let out a girly squeal. "Give me my phone," she growled out, feeling around his pants.

A blush crept up his neck as she stuck her hand down the front of his pocket. "This is highly inappropriate!" he said, smacking her hands away from his clothes.

Fed up, she backed away. "You're such a jerk, Chad. I know you, you're probably gonna post embarrassing pictures of me all over the internet and get your laugh. Ha ha," she said sarcastically. "Then the next moment I pack all my belongings and move back to the butt of Wisconsin!"

A flicker of concern flew through his eyes then he said, "You know what, that's not a bad idea."

She looked at him, disgusted and his lips curled up. "Come on, you really think I would do that, I mean, really, Monroe, really, after all we've been through?" He put his hand to his heart. "What a blow, I didn't know you thought of me so lowly."

Sonny saw through his disguise. "Nice try," she said, unimpressed. "You're acting. Now tell me this, best actor of our generation," she spat out, but he continued to look proud as if it was a compliment, anyway. "Why do you want my phone, anyway?"

He shrugged. "I don't." Smirking, he opened a drawer and grabbed the phone. And just like that, in one single moment, he placed it in her hand. Sonny narrowed her eyes. It seemed all too easy.

"Don't trust me?" he said, in a husky undertone and Sonny fought a shudder and not the unpleasant kind.

"You're up to something," she said, pocketing her phone.

"Am I Sonny, am I really? Or am I just the king of wit and charm?" Her eyes widened at the familiarity of her words and he caught the blush on her face before the lights suddenly flickered out.

A scream echoed through the room and before Sonny could gather her bearings, the lights flickered back on. Everything seemed the same, except for Chad who had sunken down to a crouching position and was huddled against the wall. It was all Sonny could do not to burst out laughing.

"You want a teddy bear to squeeze while you're down there, Mr. Cooper?" Sonny managed, stifling the eruption of giggles.

"Hey! I lost a contact, it's imperative I find it before the lights go out for good. Chad Dylan Cooper needs perfect vision at all times!" Chad lamely defended himself, pretending to search the floor for the lost contact.

"Right, because if the lights go out, you're going to need to be able to see in pitch black darkness." Sonny scoffed and rolled her eyes at his terrible excuse. Chad glared at her as he stood up, about to unleash a chain of insults, but Sonny didn't have time for this.

She still remembered what happened before the lights went out. Chad had just quoted a _very _private text straight from her own phone! The amount of ammunition he had on her now was endless, and she wasn't going to stick around to hear about it! Sonny span around and began walking swiftly back to the comfort of the prop room.

"Where do you think you're going?" Chad yelled out after her before deciding to just follow suit.

"Go _away, _Chad." Sonny snarled at him, keeping her eyes ahead as she walked.

"Well, someone's a little grumpy today." Chad teased, easily keeping pace with her.

"It was private. You had no right." Sonny muttered under her breath.

"I'm sorry, what?" Chad asked, leaning in as if straining to hear.

"I said, you had no right!" Sonny yelled abruptly, stopping just outside the prop room.

If either of them were paying attention to anyone but each other, they would've noticed that a rather large group of people were at the end of the hallway and now walking into the main studio room. There was a pretty big storm brewing outside, and Marshall decided to gather all the casts and crew into one room in case the power went off again.

"I had no right? _I_ had no right? What about you, talking about me behind my back to people I don't even know. You don't see me texting all over the place about how cute I think you look all the time!" Chad had raised his voice to make it sound like he had a point, but he certainly didn't mean for that last part to slip out.

"Well... good!" Sonny yelled, not sure of how else to respond to that.

"Good!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Sonny stormed into the prop room and threw herself on the couch. She picked up the nearest magazine she could find and began aimlessly flipping through it. Chad was hot on her heels.

"I'm sorry, but if you think you're getting the last word here, you're sadly mistaken." Chad pointed accusingly as he hovered over her.

Sonny stood up again, took a step forward, and looked him straight in the eye. "What is wrong with you? You just invaded my personal life and you think you have the right to blame me for being angry? Did you even stop thinking of yourself for two seconds to consider how this would make me feel?!" Sonny trailed off, temper flaring, thinking of all the embarrassing things he must have seen. She could feel her cheeks start to burn, so she immediately turned her back to Chad.

"Ok, whoa there. As if I would've thought you had anything of _interest _on your phone. Not my fault you don't put your juicy thoughts under password protection! The way you just leave your phone lying around, I'm surprised I was the first to pick it up!" Chad was still shouting right back at her, but he smirked as her back was turned to him. He really hadn't planned on finding anything he had seen in her phone. But he didn't mind it at all.

"Well, gee, maybe because most people are decent human beings, Chad!" Sonny was facing him again, her fearlessness returning.

"Wow, does that sort of naive thinking come packaged with the cheese you buy in Wisconsin?" Chad mocked.

"No, but at least we don't buy the over-proccessed "Hollywood" food you consume, which apparently drains your brain of any thought at all." Sonny dished right back, a smile hinting at her lips.

"That's funny. You know you didn't seem to be laughing a minute ago when you realized I have enough information to blackmail you for the rest of your life." Chad frowned at her.

"And you didn't seem to be laughing while you were crying on the floor like a baby when the lights went out for less than a second." Sonny retorted. She refused to let this get to her. She didn't even know for sure how much Chad had seen. This wouldn't be the first time he was bluffing.

"Hey, I already told you-" Chad began.

"Oh, come on. The "contact lense" excuse? I would think the lead actor of Mackenzie Falls could come up with something more riveting than that. Then again, all you know how to do is read from a script while the cameras are rolling." Sonny didn't even bother to hide a satisfactory smile on her face anymore.

They were so close to each other at this point, Sonny could practically smell the Bananas Foster he had on his breath from lunch. She frowned, remembering what was supposed to resemble bread pudding, floating around on her plate. Glancing down for a brief moment, she took note of how cute it was that he always balled up his fist when arguing with her. She also noticed how unsteady his breathing was... or no, wait. That was _her _breathing.

"Uh, Sonny?" Chad cleared his throat awkwardly and tilted his head to meet her gaze. "You could at least pretend you're still in this conversation with me, I feel like I'm yelling at the wall."

"Huh?" Sonny felt like her head was spinning under some cosmic weight. Once her eyes met his again, she was a goner. She felt an involuntary gravitational pull toward his body. His eyes were almost hypnotic as he looked back at her, confused as all hell. Just one little slip and she'd be right where she wanted to be...

And that's when the electricity went dead, and the door slammed shut.


	2. Chapter 2

**When The Lights Go Out**

A/N: Thanks so much for reading guys! This chapter was a lot of fun, Ari and I had some good laughs.

_BUT_

I can't stress this enough: PLEASE REVIEW! We need to know how we're doing! If we don't get reviews, we're just going to assume you hate it and stop writing =(

This chapter is being posted in honor of the new episode, "Guess who's coming to guest star" which is finally on youtube... in English! Go watch it!  
But first read and REVIEW this =)  
(oh keep in mind, all our chapters are mack falls references... so sorry if they have nothing to do with the story haha)  
enjoy!

**Chapter 2: Is It Tyrell?!  
****  
**  
Marshall instructed one of the security guards to lock the doors for caution during the storm, but Sonny and Chad weren't worrying about caution when they heard the jiggle of the locks on the door to the prop room.

Sonny's ears perked up. "Freedom at last," she said, shooting up in excitement and beamed at Chad, who could only barely make out her face. Chad's cell phone was the only source of light. Chad even got up and brushed the "dirt" (he told Sonny it was dirt when she asked why he was being so dramatic about his shirt touching the floor about a half hour ago). They had only been in there for about ten minutes, but it was entirely too long for Sonny who just hated being in a small space for a long period of time.

Sonny and Chad scurried to the door and banged their fists on it with all their might. "Help!" Sonny said over and over again.

"Get us out of here! Chad Dylan Cooper should never be treated like this! I will not send out fruit baskets anymore." Chad added, what he thought was helpful, but only earned an eye roll from Sonny. Then he just did what Sonny did; screamed out for help. But the guy on the other side only continued to lock the door, the headphones in his ears blaring.

"Why isn't he helping us!?" Sonny said, and turned to Chad, her face panicked.

"I dunno, maybe someone wants to lock us in here Sonny," Chad said, suddenly turning serious and put on his actor's face. "To make us realize, the very deep underlying feelings for each other. I mean in episode 316, Chloe and Mackenzie's stepbrother were kept in the elevator after it broke down. By the end of the episode, they knew, that they belonged together the very instant the door came-"

Sonny threw up a hand to halt him, but grew annoyed when he couldn't see said hand. "Enough Chad, do you realize you distracted me to the point where THE DOOR DUDE IS GONE!" she cried out.

"Part of my charm, Sonny," Chad replied with ease.

"You know, I would use my phone but you gave it back to me DEAD!" she shouted at him and he delicately wiped the spittle off his eye. "You just had to take it Chad. Also, who uses their cell phone to the point where they can't make calls until their assistant pays off the bill."

"You told me this before, Sonny," he said tonelessly.

"Chad, I don't even have the luxury of having an assistant!"

"Mm, you're missing out."

Sonny sighed out in exasperation. "I still don't understand how the doorman could possibly not hear us. I've talked to Tawni through that door before. It's not like sound proof."

"Maybe-" Chad began.

"No, I'm not gonna believe your little story about someone wanting to lock us in here. That is just ridiculous. Not everything in life has to be backed up by drama," she told him. She went to sit back down, almost pouting and Chad joined her side.

A moment of silence passed by before Sonny looked at Chad and he could make out the worried expression on her face. The cell phone was placed in between them, casting light onto their features. "Do you think the others are gonna come looking for us, like, they can't do rehearsal without part of the cast!"

Chad put his hand on Sonny's arm, attempting to calm her. "Of course, they can't do rehearsal without CDC!" He popped his collar and Sonny even bit down a smile. "But honestly Sonny, you have nothing to worry about." His smile slipped slightly. "Oh, unless..."

Sonny's shoulders tensed once more. They had grown relaxed under Chad's touch. "Unless, what?" she said.

"Nothing," Chad said quickly.

Sonny shot him a dangerous look until Chad couldn't take squirming under her stare any longer.

"Well..."

*

Nico and Grady were both pacing around the rehearsal room, bored and worried about Sonny. They hadn't known of her whereabouts ever since Marshall gathered this meeting, which just turned into a lockdown with nothing to do. They bothered Tawni about where Sonny was, until Tawni grew frustrated and sent a text to Sonny's phone to appease them. They would've used their phones but they kind of left them in their dressing room. Zora was pretty much off doing her own thing.

"I just don't know where Sonny could be," Nico told his best friend and cast mate, Grady.

"Maybe she discovered Narnia," Grady said wistfully. Nico shot him a look and Grady not sure what to do, laughed to lighten the mood. Until Nico snapped out, "Not funny." Tawni stood there next to them, silently fuming.

Zora came up to the group and turned her own flashlight on. Marshall had passed out individual flashlights and had on the back up flood lights, although it was still a dim room. Both Nico and Grady jumped at her sudden appearance and Tawni felt a tad bit relieved.

"Let's tell scary stories," Zora suggested, making little Halloween noises that had Nico and Grady both shudder. Tawni just smirked.

"Let's not," Nico said shakily. "The last time we told scary stories with you, I couldn't sleep all night."

Grady cringed, the same thing had happen to him. Tawni had to sort of console them throughout the night, but for money of course. She needed some incentive.

"Oh come on you pansies," Zora said, shoving both the boys playfully. "Scary stories are best in the dark. And while I would like this whole place to be completely dark, this'll do."

"Hey I know, let's play look for Sonny," Nico said.

Tawni had enough of that topic and decided if she had to lie to him to make him feel better, she'd do so, but it had to be convincing. Her eyes swept across the room for any familiar faces. She brightened up when she found the back of a boy and girl's head, very similar to Sonny and Chad's heads. Ironically enough, those were Sonny and Chad's stunt doubles. Tawni was unaware of this and smiled. Maybe she didn't have to lie after all.

"Nico!" she said, taking his shoulders and turning him around. "I don't know what you were so worried about," she laughed, but to Zora it sounded forced. "If you look ahead, those are clearly the back of Sonny and Chad's heads."

"Oh, yeah," Grady said, taking in the sight. "Yup, yup definitely them."

"Oh, good," Nico said then froze. "Wait, why is Sonny with Chad?"

Tawni rolled her eyes as if she thought his question was dumb. "Hello, Sonny and Chad fight all the time. They're probably in this huge brawl now."

"That's true," Grady agreed.

"Yeah, definitely them," Nico added.

Zora looked at all of them dubiously, but kept quiet.

*

"God, I hate those So Randoms," Portlyn said, looking over at the So Random cast and scowled. "They're always so happy, like all the time." She looked to another Mackenzie Falls cast mate for agreement.

Sure enough, Kimberly parroted her agreement, but only because Portlyn was like the leader of the group. Well when Chad was gone at least.

Portlyn couldn't possibly understand Chad's interest in the main So Random girl, Sonny. What kind of name was Sonny anyway? Who wears a vest over some plaid shirt, like trying to create some new trend? What was the girl trying to pull? She was bold, Portlyn gave her that. But she was also so hotheaded and unable to pull off the cool and calm collected look that Portlyn and Chad practiced and perfected together. Portlyn couldn't possibly understand even in the storm how Chad could just be hanging around her, not even with his own cast. That was so unprofessional.

She glanced at what she thought was Chad and Sonny. They must've been in some fight. They looked very engaged in whatever they were doing. No one even bothered going up to them, but Portlyn was going to change that. No way would this little Southern belle steal her Chad away from her. Not that the young drama actress had a thing for Chad, but they had always been there for each other through the thick and thin. Like that one time, her cell phone dropped into his pool and he thoughtfully bought her a new one within the next moment.

Tyrell looked to Darren, the guy who played Mackenzie's evil stepbrother. "Ya know Chad has spent a lot of time at the So Random studio. Do you think he's like gonna bail out on the Falls?" Tyrell said, with his face scrunched up in concern.

"Dude, it's the CDC, and this girl, Sunny or whatever is not gonna come between him and our show. Not on my watch," Darren told the young black actor.

"I just don't understand, the rivalry between both of our shows, it's so deep. It's been there for three tween choice awards, meaning a really long time," Tyrell said and looked off into the distance pensively. "It just doesn't make sense how this one girl could change everything."

Darren rolled his eyes. "First of all, you're being more dramatic than usual. And second, this is CDC my brother! He dabbles a little time in one girl and moves to the next."

To the side of the friends, Kimberly was trying to stop Portlyn from potentially causing a scene. "I don't think it's such a good idea to go over there, Portlyn," she said. "They [Sonny and Chad] look really concentrated and you always advise against ruining a great scene with the break of concentration."

Portlyn looked at her irritably. "I don't care what they're doing. It's not like they're on the same show so I highly doubt they're rehearsing lines right now."

"But," Kimberly, played as Chloe, began.

Portlyn gasped, about to put her good acting skills to use. "Kimberly, honey, your pores are like showing. It's very revolting. Do something about it immediately." Kimberly's hands flew to her face, as if she had some ghastly condition and scurried off to find a compact mirror immediately. Portlyn smirked, satisfied, brushed the lint off her skirt, and marched over to "Chad" and "Sonny".

*

"You mean to tell me, that we could be waiting here until the next morning!?" Sonny said, getting all up in Chad's face.

"Yeah, that's what I said," he said patiently. "I told you, the last time we had a storm this big, we all gathered in the rehearsal room and waited until like one in the morning."

"I know what you said, Chad," Sonny said, exasperated. "I just don't know why you failed to tell me this in the first place!"

"I forgot, jeez," he said in a flippant tone.

"How can you forget something that big!?"

"Just forget it," he burst out. Sonny was almost taken aback and perked her eyebrow.

"That was kind of loud, you didn't need to shout," she told him.

He pressed one hand to his temple. "Oh and I suppose you're allowed to just shout at me all you want?"

She sighed. "I'm sorry, look, this isn't easy."

"You think this is a walk in the park for me, Monroe?"

"Nothing is a walk in the park when you don't have your agent holding your hand every second." Sonny replied scathingly before walking to the bar at the other end of the room.

Sonny took a seat on one of the stools and looked down helplessly at her phone. She tried to ignore the not-so-comforting fact that Chad had been sifting through her phone for so long that the battery died completely. She wondered if he had seen-- no. It was too horrid to think of.

Chad marched up to Sonny, not even remotely close to being done with this argument.

"Are you suggesting that I behave like a child?" Chad narrowed his eyes.

Sonny sighed and stood back up. "No, I'm suggesting you leave me alone right now before I say something I regret."

"Oh, like what? How you can't help but fall for me in this beautiful mood lighting?" Chad smiled and turned his head wistfully to the side. Sonny's eyebrow creased in confusion at the beam of light that seemed to be shining on him, but upon looking up, she realized they had never filled in that "sky light" they bashed in the ceiling when Chad tried to take over their prop room. She lowered her gaze back down to Chad, who was still standing there, lost in the idea of his own perfection.

"Oh Chad..." Sonny smiled and ran her hand down his arm. Chad, obviously surprised by this gesture, glanced quickly at Sonny, then his arm, then back again. "Do you even realize..." She gazed meaningfully into his eyes. "...how completely deluded you sound right now?!" Sonny cried, irritated, turning her caress into a hard smack to his arm.

"Ow! Watch it, this arm is insured for a grand. Mackenzie goes out for the football team next week." Chad admitted proudly, rubbing his prized, pigskin-throwing arm.

"Well, Mackenzie is going to have a hard time throwing a touchdown pass from a hospital bed." Sonny's menacing and sarcastic smile threatened.

Chad opened his mouth to reply, but instead just grinned, chuckled, and took a seat on a barstool.

Sonny glared disbelievingly at the back of Chad's perfectly groomed head. Loudly mimicking Chad's laughter, she threw herself into the seat next to him. "What's that supposed to mean?" She demanded.

"I just think it's cute you worry so much about how much better my show is than yours. It's not like it's your fault. Our people are just more appealing to the real world." Chad shrugged his shoulders apologetically.

"_Your _people? The "real world"? Chad, your show is about snooty rich kids that make their money off of bottled water and the only real problems they have is some guy trying to make the water look like urine. Gee, that sounds like something everyone can relate to." Sonny scoffed.

"Aww, so you DO watch the show." Chad smiled sweetly at her, touched.

Sonny wrinkled her nose in disgust of rotting her brain on that trash. She sighed noisily and threw her hands up in the air, giving up on him altogether. She turned on her heel and marched up the stairs, having enough cockiness for one day. Chad leaned against the bar, stretching out in victory. At least, for now. Sonny would never admit defeat, especially not to Chad.

*

"Chad, what on Earth are you doing slumming it way over here?" Portlyn called out to who she thought was Chad. When he showed no sign of response, she took a deep breath to calm herself. He was ignoring her? To talk to that tramp, Sonny? Maybe she just needed to assert herself more.

"Chad, honey--" she began again, reaching out and spinning the confused stunt double around.

Portlyn gasped loudly, shocked. "You... you..." She couldn't find the words. "You... have a spot on your tie! That will simply never do. But don't worry, Chad! I'll find your idiot assistant Bart; he'll get you a new one in no time!" She smiled loyally and stupidly up at Chad's stunt double, Peter, who looked just as confused as Sonny's stunt double, Amanda, standing beside him.

"Um, Portlyn--" Peter tried to correct this misunderstanding but Portlyn put a hand to his mouth.

"No, no, no. After today's incredible performance, you should really be on vocal rest. Now why don't you come over and hang out with your _friends_?" Portlyn stressed the word, staring disgustedly at Amanda. "Sonny." She acknowledged the girl with a fake politeness.

"Portlyn, I'm not Sonny!" Amanda began to protest.

"You're right! You look like more of a "Gloomy"." Portlyn frowned at her before smiling at Peter and turning on her heel to rejoin her cast mates.

Peter and Amanda looked at each other dumbfounded, and then sadly shook their heads as they went back to their conversation.

"What happened? Why is he still over there?" Kimberly asked, worried, as soon as Portlyn had rejoined the group.

"Don't worry. He'll be back." Portlyn said, trying to assure not only her cast, but also herself.

*

It had to be around there somewhere... she kept two of them just in case. Sonny leaned over the railing of the small top floor and called down to Chad.

"Oh, take that suckas! You thought you could take out Chad Dylan Cooper with one of your little wimpy laser beams? Well say hello to my machine gun/chainsaw which just so happens to double as a rocket launcher. Yeah, that's right, run away!"

"CHAD!"

"WHAT!" Chad never let his eyes leave the screen of his iPhone. "Oh, sorry, didn't see you there little alien. Guess you should pay more attention when I start swinging my chainsaw!"

Sonny rolled her eyes. Video games served one purpose: to genetically program the minds of boys to scream at inanimate objects.

"Have you seen my wireless phone charger? I kind of forgot the power was out when I plugged my phone into the wall charger..."

"Suck on that, ET!"

"It's like talking to a hamster." Sonny sighed and went back to searching. "Except maybe a hamster would give a more intelligent response."

Chad froze, suddenly realizing what Sonny was asking him. She had a portable phone charger around here somewhere? But if she charged the phone he gave her, she'd find out that...

"Sonny!" Chad ran up the stairs and slung an arm around her, pulling her away from her search. "Funny little Sonny, you know I think I have seen that charger of yours. It's uh... it's under that table waaaaay over there!" He pointed vaguely downstairs, on the other side of the room.

The truth was, Chad knew exactly where the charger was. He had seen it in passing on one of his many trips to the prop house. As Sonny ran toward the supposed charger that Chad had pointed to, he tip toed over to a random nightstand and scooped the little device up and into his pocket.

"Chad, this is a stale piece of licorice!" Sonny called back, disgruntled.

"Oh... my bad." Chad smirked and headed back down the stairs.

*

"Where'd they go?" Nico had glanced up from his and Grady's game of checkers to find he could no longer see the backs of Sonny and Chad's head.

"Aha! Check mate!" Grady cried triumphantly, taking advantage of his opponent's momentary distraction.

"Grady... we're not playing chess, man!" Nico shook his head at his confused friend, but went back to his previous problem. "I bet he kidnapped her or something! Dude, he could be holding Sonny hostage right now!"

Grady scoffed and waved a hand to silence Nico's nerves. "Please. I'm sure our girl Sonny taught him a lesson and they're just on seperate ends of the room. I mean look at this place; everyone in the studio is here. It's impossible to find anyone in this crowd. You're just not looking hard enough."

"This coming from a guy playing a game where he doesn't know whether to king me, or to take my bishop." Grady looked away, pretending not to here Nico. "You know what, that's it. I'm calling her."

Nico got up and walked over to a random crew member. "Oh my God, there's a giant spider on your jacket!"

The crew member screamed like a girl, threw off his jacket, and ran away. Nico smiled. "Like taking candy from a baby." He reached down and grabbed the guy's cell phone out of the pocket.

*

All of a sudden, Chad felt something buzzing on the inside of his jacket. He jumped, causing Sonny to stare at him in confusion.

"I...uh..." He stumbled for words. "I have low blood sugar." He blurted out, turning around to mentally kick himself for such a stupid excuse. "Excuse me." He added quickly, walking as swiftly as he could manage in the dark toward the photo booth. He glanced at Sonny before closing the curtain in her face.

"Right. He's not acting weird at all." Sonny told herself, knitting her eyebrows together in confusion. Deciding to not even bother, she simply waved her hands in front of her and headed back upstairs to continue looking for that charger. It was her only hopes of getting away from that maniac.

Chad fumbled for the inside pocket of his jacket. Listening carefully to be sure Sonny was gone, he pulled the vibrating rectangle out into his view. He looked down at the screen for the source of the incoming call. "Caller Unknown" he mumbled out loud before tapping the accept button.

Clearing his throat, he answered the phone in a deeper voice. "Hello?"

"Sonny! Thank G-- wait a minute. You're not Sonny." Nico looked down at the screen to make sure he had dialed the number right. "Who is this?!"

"Who is _this_? You called _me_." Chad kept his voice low and deep, trying to stay quiet so Sonny wouldn't hear. His voice came out as a gruff whisper.

"No, who I called was Sonny. And you're not her. Did you kidnap her?!" Nico became frantic at the thought that his theory may have been true. "Because I swear, we will find you and--"

"Relax." Chad rolled his eyes at this annoying caller. He couldn't quite place the voice and the bad reception wasn't helping either. "This is just... Sonny's boyfriend." Chad's eyes grew wide and he was surprised at how easily he was able to come up with that excuse, let alone say it out loud.

"Come again?" Nico deadpanned. Sonny didn't _have _a boyfriend. What, was she keeping secrets from her friends now?

"You heard me. This is her boyfriend... uh..." Chad searched around for anything to give him a fake name. "Reggie!" He cried out, spotting an old register prop through the slit of the curtain. He cleared his throat and tried that again in his gruff voice. "Yeah. Reggie."

"Well, look here "Reggie". You need to give Sonny her phone back and let me speak to her. Right now!" Nico added, trying to sound remotely tough.

"Well Sonny doesn't wanna talk to you." Chad cooed mockingly into the phone.

Nico responded to this with a wave of incoherent yells and sputtering. Chad sat there and laughed at this guy's unintelligence. "Well, it's been great talking to you pal, but I gotta attend to my woman. Peace out Sucka...ahhhh!" Chad abruptly ended the call, taken by surprise as he looked to his left.

Sonny was standing at the entrance to the photo booth, holding the curtain back with one hand while the other sat impatiently on her hip. A very unpleasant scowl was set upon her face.

"Chad, what do you think you're doing?"

**OMG Cliffhanger! Wanna know what happens? REVIEW!**


End file.
